Non-refillable bottle



-J. FINBERG AND 0. T.'HELLER, JR. NON-REFILLABLE BOTTLE.

APPLICATION FILED MAYIO, I919.

1,362,564, I Patented Dec. 14,1920.

Josepz Fflem MsZYZZZZerJr wag UNITED STA1E PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH FINBERG AND CHARLES 'l. HELLER, JR., OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

NON-REFILLABLE BOTTLE.

Patented Dec. 14, 1920.

Application filed May 10, 1919. Serial No. 296,066.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, JosnrH FINBERG and CHARLES T. HELL R, J12, citizens ofthe United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county 0]": Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Non-Refillable. Bottles, of which the following isa specification.

Our invention relates to a non-refillable bottle, and particularly to .a non-refillable stopper construction to prevent the refilling of a bottle after the same is filled and our stopper is attached thereto. The non-refillable stopper is of a simple, inexpensive construction, having a suitable .valve means for closing the bottle against being refilled in any position.

The invention furtherv provides means for protecting the valve and discharge openings of the non-refillable stopper, to prevent tampering with the valve for the purpose of refilling the bottle. Meansare provided to assist the action of the valve to always close the bottle discharging opening when the bottle is in an upright position.

The invention further provides a catching channel or recess about the lower edge of the protecting hood, which is formed with. a pouring lip to allow liquid to be easily poured from the bottle and to prevent the same from running down around the nonrefillable stopper, thereby providing a clean, non-refillable stopper for the bottle, which will not become unsightly 'from the contents-of the bottlerunning down the sides of the same from the stopper. Means are also provided in'our non-refillable stopper to hold the stopper valve closed to secure the bottle-for shipment and before it is desired to use the contents thereof. In thismanner, no extra cork is required to close the bottle when it is being shipped and before any of the contents of the same have been poured out, a suitable seal being providedto hold the valve in closed position.

Inthe drawing forming part of this specification:

'Figure 1 is a side view of our non-refillable stopper attached to the neck of a bottle, only a portionor the bottle being illustrated' Fig. 2 is a plan view of the non-refillable stopper.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section on-the line -of Fig.'t2.

Fig, 4: is a view of the non-refillable stopper in a pouring position and partly illustrated in cross section. I 1

The non-refillable stopper A is formed with a body portion 1, which is rigidly secured to the neck B of any suitable bottle by means of the annular collar 2, the upper and lower edges of which are crimped inat 3 and 4- to engage an annular groove 5 formed in the lower portion of the body 1 of the stopper A,-and the shoulder '6 ofthe neck B,'respectively. A washer 7 ofrubber or other resilient material, is inserted between the neck B of the bottle and the base portion of the stopper A, the same being compressed sufiiciently to form a-liquid tight joint between the neck B and the stopper A, while the collar 2 is crimped to the stopper and neck; In this manner, the stopper Ais held rigidly and with a liquid tight jointto the neck B ofthe bottle. The sealing washer 7 is formed with a central opening 8, which connects with the opening 9 in the neck B of-the bottle, and is nor mally closed whenthe bottle is in upright position by the valve 10, which is freely positioned in the vertically extending chamber 11, formed in the body portion :1. of the non-refillable stopper.

The valve 10 is formed of ,sufiiciently heavy material to cause it tonor-mally close the opening 8 by gravity, when the bottle is in an upright position, but the valve is free to move upward in the-chamber 11 when the bottle is tipped into an angular or upside down position, sliding the valve into the upper portion ofthe chamber'll, as illustrated in Fig. ,4, opening the passageway 8 and allowing theliquid .inthe bottle to be discharged out of thepassageway 9 and throughthe opening 8-int0 the lower portion of the chamber 11. Suitable openings 12' are formed in the sides of-the chamber 11, through which the liquid passes when the valve is in upright position, as illustrated in Fig. .4, to discharge the liquid from the bottle.

The-valve 10 is freely movable in the chamber 11 and is trusto-conical -in;shape, beingslightly smaller in diameter at thetop than at thebottom, to prevent-it trom sticking in the chamber 11, andTinsuring-its tree movement therein. The ivalveuis :formed with a depending-teat 13,;which extends into the opening :8 and assists in centering. and

balancing --the --valve when 'itmcomes into closed position. The opening 8 in the sealing washer 7 is slightly smaller than the diameter of the chamber 11, thus causing the lower outer edge of the valve 10 to engage against the sealing washer 7 to form a ClOSlXg valve for the non-refillable stopper A helical spring 1 1 is rigidly connected in any suitable manner to the upper surface of the valve 10 at 15 at the small end of the helical spring 14;, and the large end of the spring l lengages around the inwardly projecting nipple 16 in the upper portion of the chamber 11. The spring 14 is of a delicate nature, having only a slight expanding force so as to assist the valve 10 to return to closing position when the bottle is turned or righted, after it has been turned upside down to discharge the contents from the bottle, the spring 14 being only for the purpose of overcoming the friction of the valve 10 against the sides of the chamber 11. In this manner, the valve closes quickly as the bottle is righted and brought back to an upright position after having discharged some of the-liquid from the same.

By the aid of the spring 1 1, the valve 10 is prevented from engaging against the sides of the chamber 11, to hold the valve in a partially opened position, even when the bottle and stopper are turned slowly to a horizontal position, thus causing the valve to close quickly and preventing the refilling of the bottle when the same is held in a horizontal position. The valve 10 is of suflicient weight to'overcome the pressure of the spring 14 when the bottle is held in an angular discharging position, as illustrated in Fig. 4:.

A hood 17 is provided to protect the openings 12 and is formed with a depending flange 18, I which extends annularly about and is spaced fromthe' lower portion of the outer surface of the body portion 1, to form an outlet passageway for the openings 12, to allow the liquid contained in the bottleto passout' of the openings 12 and under the dependingflange 18. The hood 17 engages against the projecting annular shoulder 19, formed on the outer portion of the body 1 of the stopper, and a spring lock ring 20, of ordinary construction, is adapted to engage in annular recessesformed in the hood and the body portion 1 to lock the hood 17 in position onthe body portion of the stopper. In constructing the stopper A in this manner with the hood 17 separate from the body portion ofthe same, the stopper gives a simple construction to manufacture, but it is obvious, however, that the hood can be formed integral with the body portion,if it is so desired, and when it is held in place by the lock ring20, it performs the same functions as if it were integral with the body portion l of the stopper. The flange 18 acts as a petticoatto protectthe'openings 12 and to prevent anything being inserted into the openings so as to allow tampering with the valve 10.

An upwardly extending andoutwardly flaring annular flange 21 is formed integral with the lower portion of the body of the stopper 1, and which extends about the lower depending petticoat flange .18, forming an annular collecting recess 22 about the lower edge of the flange 18. The recess 22 will collect and hold the small amount of liquid which is not discharged out of the flange and stopper when the bottle is righted or brought to an upright position, after having poured some of the liquid out of the same, in this manner preventing any liquid which may have collected in the stopper while pouring from the bottle running down the side of the bottle and giving an un sightly appearance. This liquid remaining in the collecting recess 22 may also form a seal about the lower edge of the depending flange 18 and thus sealing the inner portions, such as the valve 10 of the non-refilling stopper, from the outer atmosphere, if it is so desired. The space between the flange 22 and the lower edge of the petticoat flange 18 is very small and being only sufiicient to al.-

low the desired amount of liquid to be discharged from the non-refillable bottle. The flange 21 is higher on one side than the other and extends outwardly to form; a pouring lip 23, and the depending petticoat flange 18 is alsoextendedtoward the lip 23 at 2 1. In this manner, the petticoat flange 18 will assist in directing the liquid from the bottle, when pouring' out of the same, toward the pouring lip 23 and therefore form a conven ient means for discharging the liquid from the bottle and'preventing the liquid from being flushed out and over the entire non-fillable stopper. I It is equally important that a convenient pouring means be'arranged in a non-refillablebottle, or the liquid being discharged from the bottle will be flushed over the entire stopper, giving an undesir able result.

Means are provided in our non-refillable stopper for holding the valve 10 in a closed position and to provide a seal which must be broken before the bottle can be opened.

. It is desirable in the use of bottlesto pro overthe'saine, and the cord25 is extended down to the neck B of-thei bottle wher'eit is sealed beneath a suitable seal 27, which extends annularly about the neck B and which may bear any inscription that is desired. Before the cord 25 can be removed, the seal 27 must be broken and thus the contents of the bottle can not be tampered with, without injuring and removing the seal.

This construction of non-refillable stopper for bottles gives a simple, inexpensive device, in which the valve 10 performs the functions of a cork and seal for the stopper. The weight of the valve 10 is sufficient to hold it against the washer 7 to seal the contents of the bottle and prevent refilling through the stopper A.

It is obvious that our non-refillable stopper can be so formed as to be attached to any design of bottle neck, the form illustrated being only suggestive of a simple, well-known construction of bottle and we desire to protect our invention for any suitable use within the scope of the following claims:

l. The combination with a bottle, a nonrefillable stopper having a valve chamber therein, a frusto-conical valve freely slidable in said chamber, discharge openings connecting said chamber with the outer atmosphere, a depending petticoat flange extend: ing about and in close proximity to said openings to cover said openings and protect said valve, an upwardly extending outwardly flaring annular flange formed on the base of said stopper to form a pouring and collecting flange and sealing means detachably connected to said valve to hold the same in a closed position for the purposes specified.

2. The combination with a bottle, a nonrefillable stopper comprising a valve chamber, a weighted valve freely slidable in said chamber, openings connecting said valve chamber with the outer atmosphere, a sealing cord adapted to engage said valve to hold it in closed position, means depending over and in close proximity to said discharge openings for engaging said sealing cord to cause it to press downward on said valve and means for sealing the ends of said cord to the neck of said bottle to form a seal for said valve to hold it in closed position for the purposes specified.

3. The combination with a bottle, a nonrefillable stopper, a weighted valve freely slidable in said stopper, a hood for protecting said valve, means for locking said hood to said stopper against disengagement therefrom, resilient means secured to said valve adapted to overcome the friction of said valve in said stopper to cause the same to be forced into closed position when said stopper is held horizontally and a pouring flange extending about and flaring away from said hood, said flange and hood forming a seal when liquid from said bottle and stopper is collected in said flange and said stopper is in an upright position for the purposes specified.

4. The combination with a bottle, of a non-refillable stopper having a smooth upper closed end, discharge openings formed in the sides of said stopper, means for protecting said openings, a weighted valve freely movable within said stopper and a pouring lip forming a catching recess below said discharge openings and said protecting means for the purposes specified.

JOSEPH FINBERG. CHARLES T. HELLER, JR. 

